Minister of Finance Bill Morneau and Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz give an update on financial measures to help Canadians with the effects of COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa on Mar. 18, 2020. Andrew Meade/iPolitics

Parliament has passed the federal government’s emergency legislation that will get tens of billions of dollars in assistance to Canadians and their businesses hurt by the COVID-19 outbreak. It includes a merged, single benefit that will cover workers who have lost their incomes.

The bill, which was hastily studied and adopted without amendment by the Senate on Wednesday morning, includes measures to deliver direct economic aid to Canadians as well as new health transfers to the provinces and territories and the opening of credit lines for businesses through Canada’s credit agencies. Bill C-13 received Royal Assent on Wednesday afternoon.

Its passage in the Senate follows more than a day of tense negotiations between MPs on the content of the bill, which lasted into the early hours of Wednesday. The legislation passed the House of Commons just before 6 a.m., more than 17 hours after the bill was originally set to be tabled in the chamber, shortly after noon on Tuesday.

To earn the support of opposition parties, the Liberals scaled down broad powers to tax, borrow and spend without typical parliamentary oversight.

It includes reducing the duration in which government emergency spending would not need parliamentary authorization to between now and the end of September 2020. Early text of the bill would have extended the period until the end of 2021.

New benefits merged into one

The final text of the legislation includes a notable change to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s $82-billion economic aid package announced last week.

The two emergency benefits announced last week will now be merged into one, called the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).

Trudeau said Tuesday that the program will offer Canadians hurt by COVID-19 $2,000 a month for the next four months. He said he is hopeful the online portal for applying can be up by April 6.

“An application portal will launch as quickly as possible, and people should start receiving money within 10 days of applying,” Trudeau said. That would mean it won’t be until mid-April before money can start getting to Canadians.

This benefit will apply to any Canadian out of work due to reasons related to COVID-19, including for sickness, quarantine, caregiving, staying home to take care of children or loss of jobs.

Furloughed workers, those who are still technically employed but not receiving income, would also qualify for the benefit. The benefit would cover wage-earners, contract workers and self-employed and gig industry individuals.

But all Canadians who have ceased working, whether they are eligible for employment insurance or not, would be able to receive the benefit.

Canadians receiving EI regular and sickness benefits as of today would continue to receive their benefits and should not apply for the CERB. If their EI benefits end before Oct. 3, they could apply for the CERB once their EI benefits cease, if they are unable to return to work.

Canadians who have already applied for EI and whose application has not yet been processed would not need to reapply for the CERB.

During a committee of the whole meeting in the Senate on Wednesday morning, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said this benefit will offer coverage similar to wage subsidy programs seen in select European countries. Instead of a wage subsidy that will offer workers income through their employer, money would go directly to furloughed workers from the government.

“The way that we have decided to move forward on this is we are providing a wage subsidy that’s going to go directly to employees,” Morneau said. “The way that we need to move forward is to provide support that will actually allow us to ensure that people have the capacity to be furloughed from their place of work, exactly like is the case in the United Kingdom.”

Morneau added that the temporary 10 per cent wage subsidy will continue to be offered to workers employed by small businesses that continue to be paid.

He told reporters at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that new measures will total $52 billion in direct aid for Canadians, with more economic measures to be unveiled later this week. He said including tax deferrals, the value of federal support totals $107 billion.

Canada’s business community have strongly urged Ottawa in recent days to adopt a broader wage subsidy and to offer more support for businesses to survive a period of shutdown or severely reduced work.

Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said in a statement that the benefit was a “significant step forward” in addressing the economic crisis and that his group is particularly pleased that it accepts claims from furloughed employees.

But Kelly said the benefit does not replace the need for a higher wage subsidy than the 10 per cent currently offered.

“A direct wage subsidy to employers will be a far faster way to ensure workers are paid than the CERB, particularly as the new program will not begin until early April and will pay workers only once per month,” he said. “A wage subsidy will also help employers who can keep their employees working from home but have no or limited business income with which to pay them.”

Trudeau said Wednesday that the federal government is looking at expanding wage subsidy support.